Auction Grading

GENERAL BIDDING INFORMATION

Registration

1. The first step is to register on our website, we'll create you  your own personal account to view all Japan auctions on-line. The view only option is free however to place live bids you'll need to pay a bond-deposit

 

Bond Deposit

2. The bond-deposit is JPY 100,000 or US$1,000 (or 20% of your bid value*) which enables you to place live bids and will be credited towards your first purchase or otherwise refunded in full should you choose to discontinue the auction service

 

Bidding

3. Place active bids via our website, our auction buyers will then bid on the vehicle for you. If you are the highest bidder then of course, you'll win. There is no charge for unsuccessful bids.

 

Auction Result

4. You'll be notified of any successful bids and we’ll also let you know what the cars sell for - which you did not get. For successful bids, you’ll be sent an invoice containing the FOB or CIF amount of the vehicle and payment method.

 

In-land Transport

5. Car are transported to the nearest port for shipment by ro/ro or otherwise to our yards if being shipped by container or dismantled for parts. 

 

Shipment and Documentation

Shipping process begins once the payment has been confirmed. Export documentation will be sent to you via registered courier. 

The documents sent to the customers include: Export Certificate | Bill Of Lading | Final Invoice & Packing list | Marine Insurance (if required) & Pre-export Inspection Certificate

 

Important Note: JAP Express does not own the auctioned cars, we simply provide direct on-line auction access and offer a buy and export service on your behalf. 

 

 

FOB FEES for Vehicles Being Shipped Complete RO/RO (*ALL INCLUSIVE*)  

 

0 ~ 600,000 = Y85,000 FOB

 

600,001 ~ 1 mil yen = 100,000 FOB

 

1mil yen ~ 1.5 mil yen = 125,000 FOB

 

1.5 mil yen ~ 2 mil yen plus = 150,000 FOB

 

2 mil plus = 200,000 FOB

 

 

For Vehicles being shipped BY CONTAINER our minimum service fees are Y100,000 FOB per vehicle. This includes vanning charges etc 

 

For Vehicles being DISMANTLED FOR PARTS and shipped  by container as parts - our service fees are as follows

 

A) Cars bought from auction: Cost = Unit cost + auc fee + recycle tax (as shown on the auc sheet) + in-land transport to our factory + C&L (Cut and Load) @ Y35,000  

 

 

B) Cars sourced from our own stock: Unit cost + C&L Y35,000

 

*The above rates are for standard Japanese type vehicles, it does not cover commercial vehicles or European cars which are much more complex to dismantle and load. For more details contact us here 

 

See rules for in-land frieght click here

 

 

AUCTION GRADING

All Japan car aucitons use the same or similar grading system from 0 ~ 5

Grade A / -1 / 0 = Accident grade cars

R/A = Accident repaired

2.0 Will always be rusty with heavy corosion  

3.0 Expect the car to be fair to poor untidy condition

3.5 Minor flaws but overall good

4.0 Very clean and tidy

4.5 Excellent condition

5.0 As new

The vehicles interior is also independently graded by the auction as A, B, C and D.

Another thing to be wary of is the odometer readings. If you see any of these marks next to the odometer reading – # * $ ? beware! This means the odometer has either been wound, or the meter cluster swapped. Either way you need to exercise caution. Our buyers know what to look for and so will help you out.

Grade A / -1 / 0 = Accident grade cars

R/A = Accident repaired

3.0 Expect the car to be fair to poor untidy condition

3.5 Minor flaws but overall good

4.0 Very clean and tidy

4.5 Excellent condition

5.0 As new

The vehicles interior is also independently graded by the auction as A, B, C and D.

Another thing to be wary of is the odometer readings. If you see any of these marks next to the odometer reading – # * $ ? beware! This means the odometer has either been wound, or the meter cluster swapped. Either way you need to exercise caution. Our buyers know what to look for and so will help you out.

 

NOT SURE HOW MUCH TO BID?

Our on-line auction service has a price RESEARCH function which enables you to see what the same or similar vehicles have sold for over the past recent weeks. This helps you to gauge what you should bid. The service does this buy pulling part data from similar vehicles but when bidding on accident or damaged vehicles the service is unreliable because there is no why of knowing the extent of damage per each vehicle.

 

SEARCHING FOR DAMAGED CARS

If you are specifically looking for damaged cars for repair or for parts, then set the search filter grade fields to zero, this will tell the system to display accident grade or damaged/repaired cars only.

 

AUCTION SALE RESULTS

After each auction, the sales results are automatically posted to our website – this data is retrieved directly from the auction. However, the USS Auction group does not display the auction sales results, this is because local Japan dealers who equate to over 80% of the USS membership appealed to keep the auction sales data hidden. This being said, JAP Express has access to the USS post-auction sales data and will copy and paste the sale results for any vehicles bid on by our customers.

 

CARS WITHRAWN FROM AUCTION

when you see the start price listed as 77,777 or 88,888 it means the vehicles has been cancelled from auction. This normally means that there is a problem with the documentation.

Auctions allow a vehicle to be cancelled for up to one hour after purchase. The auction cancellation process is strict to the minute and the cancellation charge ranges from ¥80,000 yen and ¥150,000 yen depending on which auction you’re at.

If a vehicle is purchased and is not cancelled within the allocated 1 hour time period, then you may opt to re-auction the vehicle. If you do and the vehicle sells for more then you will be notified and the surplus will be credited to your account. If however there is a loss, then the loss will be incurred by you.

 

WHAT IS SHODAN?

Auction negotiation, known as SHODAN enables us to place an offer on a vehicle if it does not sell at the post button. The seller may opt to offer the vehicle at shodan which means we can make an offer which must be a minimum of 10,000 above the last genuine bid price or above the reserve set by the seller. Shodan operates on a first come first served basis and the auction charges an extra Y35,000 above standard fees.

 

AUCTION CANCELATION

Auctions allow a vehicle to be cancelled for up to one hour after purchase. The auction cancellation process is strict to the minute and the cancellation charge ranges from ¥80,000 yen and ¥150,000 yen depending on which auction you’re at.

If a vehicle is purchased and is not cancelled within the allocated 1 hour time period, then you may opt to re-auction the vehicle. If you do and the vehicle sells for more then you will be notified and the surplus will be credited to your account. If however there is a loss, then the loss will be incurred by you.

 

HOW OFTEN DO THE CAR AUCTIONS RUN?

Auctions operate from Tuesday to Saturday. There are a few auctions on Mondays but they are fairly limited. Auctions normally start at 9:00 and will run for approx 10 ~ 12 hours. The time difference for customers living in the south pacific (N.Z the Pacific Islands and Aus) allows you to conveniently view auctions a few hours before the actually being on the day. So grab a coffee and have a go!

 

WHICH AUCTIONS ARE VIEWABLE?

We have access to all auction houses throughout Japan but we mainly source our vehicles from auctions in the Kansai region. This is the area that stretches from Kobe to Nagoya. There is a population of 50 million in this region so sourcing good vehicles is fairly easy. All the major auction houses are covered in this area.

 

IS THE AUCTION SERVICE IN ENGLISH?

Yes, the details of every vehicle displayed on our website have been translated into English. We’ve developed special re-coding software which translates everything nicely into English. If you have difficulty with anything, our buyers are all fluent in both English and Japanese so feel free to call or send them an email.

 

DOES THE AUCTION SITE SHOW RECENT AUCTION RESULTS?

Yes, you can search recent data of similar vehicles which will let you know the general market price. We highly recommend you using this tool as it will give you a more accurate feel of what to bid.

 

WHAT IF I BID TOO MUCH?

Our auction bid service is completely transparent. We recommend you bidding as much as you can rather than less. Then, if we’re successful in buying the vehicle for less, we’ll pass the saving onto you. We call this the benefit of the buy. Say for example you bid ¥400,000 yen on a vehicle that we end up purchasing for ¥355,000. Your buy price is what we pay.

 

WHEN SHOULD I PLACE MY BIDS?

Please ensure you place your bids no later than 9.00 Japan time as most auctions start at 9:30 This is to ensure our buyers receive your bids in time to thoroughly inspect the vehicle beforehand.

 

ODOMETERS GUARANTEES

All vehicle supplied by us undergo a thorough pre-export inspection. Odometer accuracy is confirmed by using the Japan NAK system which is an on-line data system that lists the odometer reading of a vehicle each time it is serviced, ownership changed, re-shaken’d (similar to a certificate of compliance) or auctioned. The odometer history is also noted on the deregistration certificate. (Tohon). The vehicles service records are also checked to ensure there are no anomalies.

Some customers prefer a full evasive inspection which can be carried out by anyone of the many odometer certifying companies. In our opinion , this is provides no more assurance towards the odometers accuracy then using our preferred methods ~ however we’ll leave this up to you to decide. Note, There is an additional cost which differs depending on whose service you choose.

 

CLAIMS

Claims if any must be submetted w/in 30 days of the vehicles arrival – NOTE: We do not accept claims where the following situation applies;

1. The customer is present at the auction and has himself inspected the vehicle

2. The odometer reading exceeds 100,001 kms

3. The auction grade is less than 4.0

4. Accident graded or Accident Repaired vehicles are not claimable

5. The vehicle has been modified or performance enhanced

6. The vehicle is more than 10 years old

7. Any issues relating to clutch, breaks or air bag suspension systems

8. No claims on any CD Stereo, Audio or Navigation systems

9. Theft loss or damage which occurs after the vehicles leaves Japan

10.We do not accept claims for any vehicle requiring a repair or low volume cert at time of compliance.